Sony is killing physical PlayStation discs in January 2028. CD Projekt Red is aiming to release The Witcher 4 in 2028. You can see the collision coming.
The studio’s answer, per joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski, is that the game will still “have a box” regardless. Maybe not a disc inside it. But a box.
The part CD Projekt Red can’t control
Nowakowski was blunt about where the studio’s power ends. Disc manufacturing for first parties happens in first-party factories, and no amount of goodwill from a Polish studio changes that.
“We don’t know what’s going to be the case,” he said. “We know what PlayStation has announced. And we have no influence on the policies of the first parties. The discs for the first parties, including PlayStation, have to be manufactured in their own factories. So, if they stop manufacturing indeed by 2028, then yes [we won’t have a disc].”
Sony announced the plan in July. Retailers and the wider industry have not taken it quietly.
Why this one stings more than most
Plenty of publishers treat a physical edition as a jewel case and a slip of paper. CD Projekt Red has never played it that way.
The standard editions of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 both shipped with stickers, a map, a letter from the developers, postcards and more. Standard editions. Not the $200 tier with the statue.
That’s the tradition on the line here, and for collectors who’ve spent decades building shelves, watching it end with a game like this one is a rough way to go out.
“We’re nerds ourselves”
So the studio is planning around the loss rather than accepting it.
“But we’re big fans of people having access to tangible collectible things,” Nowakowski added. “We’re nerds ourselves, and we like that. We always supported that. So, whatever is the case, we’re going to be for sure having a box. We’re going to have a box that’s going to have some feelies in it. Something you’re going to be wanting to open up and enjoy. But we have no influence actually on what’s the case here.”
Feelies. That’s an old word, and using it tells you something about who’s making this call.
What’s still unknown
The Witcher 4 has no release date. The Ciri-led follow-up to Witcher 3 is still in development while the studio keeps working over its 2015 hit with an official remaster and the Songs of the Past expansion.
What the box holds, nobody’s saying yet. Stickers, a map, a letter. Something you open on the couch before you’ve even booted the thing up.
[…] also confirmed the remake of The Witcher 1 is on hold. The resources are going to The Witcher 4 instead, which the studio is targeting for a 2028 release, and to Songs of the Past, the Witcher 3 […]